


That’s the Funny Thing About Time Travel, Your Majesty

by MurderouslyAdorkable



Series: Swan Queen Week Summer 2015 [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-19
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-10 04:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4376885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MurderouslyAdorkable/pseuds/MurderouslyAdorkable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in an ambiguous point in Season Five where Emma isn’t the Dark One anymore. Emma and Regina through some accidental magic are sent back in time where they are greeted by a young Emma.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That’s the Funny Thing About Time Travel, Your Majesty

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Fuzzy Cheese Productions does not own any of these characters, universes or situations. They belong to Disney, ABC etc, etc. We claim no rights to copyrighted material and this story is purely for entertainment purposes.
> 
> This is for Swan Queen Week Summer 2015, Day Three: Time Travel

“What did you do?”

 

_Of course, because when magic backfires it's always my fault._

 

“Me? I didn't do anything.”

 

“Miss Swan...” She was always Miss Swan when Regina was angry. Emma hated it. And maybe that's why she continued to do it. Even after all of these years, after all they had been through, she was still “Emma” only when Regina was trying for nice. In fact the first thing that Regina did when Emma returned was call her an idiot. The Savior understood. It was Regina's way. But she still didn't have to like it.

 

“Yes, your majesty?” Emma asked, her eyes narrowing.

 

“We need to get away from this crowd. People are starting to stare,” Regina replied.,quickly adding, “And try not to make any changes. I know how hard that might be for you.”

 

Emma made a show of rolling her eyes. She was never going to live down the Marian thing. Yes, she had messed things up. But fate corrected things. If this was what you'd call “right.”

 

_Didn't Regina say that Fate was a bitch..._ Emma stole a glance at Regina as they left the depot and turned down an alley.  _It does seem like that now._

 

“So...” Emma began, trying to break the tension. “How do we get back?”

 

“If I knew that we'd be back already,” Regina sneered. “I still don't know how you managed to do this.”

 

Emma had had it with the backhanded accusations. That magic hadn't felt like hers. It hadn't felt like Regina's either. Emma had no clue what how this happened or why. Because she supposed that was important too.

 

“I didn't manage to do anything,” Emma told her. “I'm beginning to think me and magic just don't mix. So I tend to stay away from it.”

 

Regina sighed. “You can't be serious. The most powerful wielder of light magic in history and you're just going to give it up?”

 

“Regina, I don't want to have this conversation,” Emma replied.

 

“No, Emma I'm not going to let you turn your back on your gifts.”

 

The Savior sighed. “Can we just figure out how to get back, please?”

 

“Fine,” Regina huffed, with a roll of her eyes. “How do you suggest we proceed?”

 

Emma shrugged. “I dunno. I thought you would.”

 

Regina shook her head. “How you were able to thwart me at every turn I'll never know.”

 

“Dumb luck?” Emma offered in jest.

 

Regina scowled but she couldn't hold the expression and she found herself smiling at Emma despite her frustration with the whole situation. “I suggest we find past you. There might be something she can show us that will get us home. That's usually how these things works, isn't it?”

 

“If you believe in the stories Henry reads,” Emma said. “Good versus evil. The hero winning in the end and gets the girl. True love. Happy endings. And all that jazz.”

 

Regina studied her for a moment. “You don't?”

 

Again Emma gave Regina a small shrug. “I don't know anymore...”

 

Before Regina could say anything Emma set off for the street again. She just didn't want to talk about it. On the one hand every terrible thing that has ever happened to her had some kind of magical cause. But on the other it was magic that had brought Henry into her life. It was magic that had given her back her parents. She didn't know how to feel about it anymore.

 

She was deep in thought, which is why she didn't see someone crossing the alley as she got to the sidewalk until they had crashed right in them.

 

“I'm sorry,” she said, quickly before she got a chance to look at them. Who she saw staring back at her stole any other words she had. It was her younger self. She didn't look much older than Henry. 14, maybe 15. Wearing a heavy, military style jacket, ripped jeans, and black Chuck Taylors with her hair pulled back in a ponytail.

 

“No problem,” young Emma replied before walking away in a hurry. It was hard to believe she was ever that small. But still something didn't feel right.

 

“Did you manage not destroy the timestream?” Regina's voice had a hint of playfulness to it.

 

Emma blinked at her. “Timestream? You've been reading Henry's comics?”

 

Regina glared at her. “One of us has to make certain those stories are appropriate for Henry.”

 

“Okay,” Emma replied with a chuckle. “Riiight.”

 

The former Evil Queen frowned at the Blond. “What are you trying to imply, Miss Swan?”

 

“I'm not implying anything,” Emma said. “I'm flat out telling you that you're a comic book geek.”

 

Regina's eyes narrowed and she stared daggers at Emma. “Are we going to stand around or are you going to attempt to get us home?”

 

Emma sighed. She had to remind herself that Regina had a reputation. She had been a queen after all. Regina couldn't go a week without reminding Emma of that fact. And each week Emma bit her tongue, never once telling her that it was a crown that Cora had killed for. Because frankly, after everything, she was in no position to talk. The things her family had done to ensure Emma was untouched by darkness had been unforgivable.

 

“What is it?” Regina's voice pulled her from her musing.

 

Emma patted down her coat. “Shit.”

 

“What?”  
  


“I stole my wallet.”

 

Emma tore off in the same direction she saw her younger self go, assuming that Regina was close behind. She could only imagine what Regina must be thinking. Yes, she had done the background on her. But it was one thing reading about Emma's past transgressions, it was another thing seeing it. Emma before she had Henry wasn't the Savior everyone knew. She was a lost girl willing to do just about anything to survive. This was just a part of it.

 

Relying on her instincts, Emma turned down an alley and even though she couldn't see her younger self, she knew she was here.

 

“Emma?” Regina voice sounded behind her, her tone questioning.

 

“She's here,” she replied, before calling out. “Hey, we're not going to hurt you. I just want my wallet back.”

 

“Do you honestly think that's going to work?” Regina asked, sardonically.

 

“You got any better ideas, your Majesty?” Emma shot back.

 

Regina shot her a look and then shouted, “Come out right now or we'll be forced to call the authorities.”

 

Seeing the Former Evil Queen in all her regal glory always brought a smile to Emma's face. Regina's whole demeanor changed, her presence filled the area around her in a way that was hard to ignore. Still Emma didn't think it would work. Until...

 

“Where did you find this lady?”

 

Emma tried to suppress a laugh but between that question, and Regina flashing a look of righteous indignation, she couldn't help it. It was hilarious.

 

_Regina Mills prepare to meet your match._

 

“You wouldn't believe me if I told you, kid,” Emma replied, when her younger self appeared from behind a dumpster. 

 

The wallet was tossed between them. “Try me.”

 

Emma glanced at Regina and then back to her younger self. “Look kid...”

 

“You're about to lie to me,” her younger self stopped her before she started going.

 

“We can't tell you the truth,” Regina jumped in. Her tone surprisingly soft. It reminded Emma of the way she deals with Henry and Roland. In a way it was a glimpse of what Regina would have been had she not chosen to walk down a dark road. “Please, we just need the wallet and then we can go home.”

 

“This is a trick,” young Emma said, with a shake of her head. “You're here to take me back. I'm not going back.”

 

“Kid, we're not taking you back to the group home,” Emma told her as she retrieved the wallet. “Come on, use that superpower of yours. You know that's true. You know what Regina said was true too. We can't explain everything to you. It'd be dangerous.”

 

Younger Emma seemed to consider her words before she gave a slight nod. “Okay. I just...”

 

“I know,” Emma said. “You don't want to go back. I don't blame you, kid...” 

 

Regina frowned. “Isn't there some place you can go?”

 

Emma's younger self scoffed. “There's no place that'll take an orphaned runaway. No place I'd want to be anyway.”

 

“But--”

 

“You don't get it, lady,” Emma's younger self cut her off. “This is my life. It's not manicured nails, a hundred salon appointments. It's this. It's picking pockets to scrape up enough change to maybe buy a hot dog. It's trying to find a park bench that not in a sketch neighborhood so I can sleep for a few hours before someone tells me I can't be here. So trust me. There's no hope for a kid like me. I'm a lost cause.”

 

Emma reached for a wallet and handed her younger self the cash inside. It was 40 bucks. Not much but she could at least get a real meal or two. “Here, kid. It's not much but...”

 

Younger Emma eyed her curiously before she tentatively took the money. “Thanks, I guess.”

 

“Take care of yourself, kid.”

 

Younger Emma nodded before she turned to leave. “I do my best.”

 

Emma turned to Regina. “We should go.”

 

“We don't even know how...”

 

“We'll figure it out. We always do.” Emma reached for Regina. 

 

The blue smoke began to engulf until Regina pulled away. “Wait. Just give me a moment.”

 

They didn't question the magic. Their energies, their fates were connected. Magic worked differently around them. 

 

Emma watched Regina call her younger self back. The two exchanged words. Emma couldn't hear them but Regina's body language wasn't dripping with superiority and her expression was soft. And whatever was happening her younger self responded to it, dropping her walls long enough to accept more money from Regina. When they were done, the two parted ways without incident.

 

“Emma, I had no idea...” Regina begin.

 

But she couldn't have this conversation. “It's okay, Regina. Life got better. And then it got worse, briefly. It's on an up swing again.”

 

Regina nodded and held out her hand to Emma. “Ready to go home?”

 

“Always.”

 

A cloud of blue smoke puts them back in Regina's kitchen. Emma was the first to break the silence.

 

“That was... eventful.”

 

“At least you managed not to severely damage the...”

 

“Timestream?” Emma offered. 

 

Regina groaned and rolled her eyes. “You are a child, Miss Swan.”

 

“Says the woman that reads comic books.”

 

Possibly desperate not to have her secret confirmed, Regina changed the subject. “Aren't you going to ask me what I said to you?”

 

Emma shook head. “I know what you said. That's the funny thing about time travel. I remember everything you said.”

 

Regina stepped from her and tried walk away but Emma gently grabbed her by her arm, keeping her close. 

 

“' _I know times are hard. I know you feel lost and alone, like you don't deserve any kind of happiness. But you're wrong. And one day you're going be the source of so much joy and goodness. One day you're going to give me the greatest gift any one person could give to another and for that I will always believe that you are destined for great things, Emma Swan. And do you know what that gift is? It's hope. Never despair. Even when things are at their darkest, you will persevere. I have faith in you_.'”

 

She watched dark brown eyes well with tears and Emma brushed away the drop that rolled down Regina's face. 

 

“Thank you, Regina...”

 

“Mom!” Henry's voice shattered the moment and the two women stepped away from each other just as he rushed into the kitchen. He stopped when he saw Emma. “Oh... Are you staying?”

 

Emma frowned. “Sadly, kid. I can't. I've got stuff I gotta...” When she saw Henry visibly whit at her words. “...cancel, 'cause I miss my kid... What do you want to do kid?”

 

Henry seemed to beam. “I kinda wanna get out of Storybrooke.”

 

“Where would we go?” Regina asked.

 

“The zoo,” was Henry's suggestion.

 

Emma nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well, there you are. I'm not 100% happy with it but I'm working on finishing things I started. And once all seven ficts are done, I might go back and make a more cohesive story. We'll see.
> 
> Anyway, you can follow me and the other writers of Fuzzy Cheese Productions at fuzzycheeseproductions on tumblr. You can see our other fan works and some of our original stuff.


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